Embracing Forever Read online

  Setting aside thoughts of Bryson, she went out to greet her next client. One of the therapists had called in sick and the other therapists were covering, which, thankfully, left little time for her to think about her predicament. Raven had back-to-back clients for the next four hours and barely had enough time to stop and eat. They had started staggering the lunches a year ago, instead of closing the office for an hour. It usually wasn’t a problem until someone was out, like today. She hurriedly ate her sandwich and carrots, finishing just in time for her new client, a sixty-four-year-old woman who’d had back surgery. During the evaluation, the woman chatted away about the good and bad of her forty-year marriage, bringing to mind Raven and Bryson’s encounter. Again.

  Despite her busy schedule, Raven’s thoughts kept straying to Bryson and the intense passion they’d shared. She had finally sent the text, but still had trouble reconciling their encounter. In the back of her mind, she speculated on how this would impact their friendship. She didn’t know what she’d do if she lost him. She felt her phone buzz in her pocket, but didn’t stop what she was doing to check it. Somehow, she knew she would see Bryson’s name on the display. Then there was Jerome and Kendrick. What would they think? She sighed inwardly and tried to refocus on the task in front of her.

  Raven wanted to shout “Hallelujah!” when her day ended. On the way to the car, she checked her cell and saw the message from Bryson: Hope your day is going well. Looking forward to seeing you later. Any other time, his words wouldn’t have caused a blip on her radar, but today it was going off like Fourth of July fireworks. He seemed anxious to talk to her. Did he have regrets or think they’d made a mistake? Although she hadn’t seen him with another woman, it didn’t mean he wasn’t casually seeing one. No, he wouldn’t have slept with her while dating someone else. She got into her car and leaned her head back. She was making herself crazy and needed to get a grip. She’d never been one to get all emotional and this, along with the amount of crying she had done over the past few weeks was ruining her tough girl image.

  Merging into the nightmare traffic, Raven hit the play button on her iPod and let the sounds of Jaheim take her home. She wasn’t surprised to see Bryson pulling into the condo complex behind her. He parked in a nearby visitor’s spot and came to help her out of the car.

  “Hey.” Bryson gave her a warm hug.

  “Hey.” She led the way to her unit and let them in. “Have a seat.” Raven didn’t know how to behave around him right now.

  He seemed to sense it because he took her hand and led her to the sofa. “You’re worried, I can tell. Let’s talk, sweetheart.”

  She flopped back against the sofa. “I don’t know what’s going on with me. One minute, I’m okay with us, the next, I’m not so sure. I feel uncomfortable, awkward and,” she rolled her head in his direction, “afraid that I’m going to lose my best friend.”

  Bryson leaned forward, braced his forearms on his thighs and clasped his hands together. “I get where you’re coming from Raven, but I don’t want you to feel any of those things. Nothing has changed. You’re still my very best friend and always will be, no matter what.”

  “You say that today, but what if two weeks from now, you decide we don’t work or you find someone else? Regardless of what you think, things will change between us.”

  He shifted to face her. “The only thing I’m going to want two weeks from now is to continue seeing my best friend.”

  Raven sat up straight and searched his face. “What are you talking about, Bryse?”

  He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. “I’m talking about you and me seeing where this goes, taking things one step at a time and exploring what I know we both are feeling.”

  “Bryse, I…I don’t know.” This was the last thing she expected him to say. She figured he’d either say they should go back to being friends or maybe friends with occasional benefits, but dating exclusively never crossed her mind.

  “Tell me you don’t feel the same connection, the same pull and we’ll go back to the way it was before yesterday.”

  She couldn’t say it because she did feel it, and it drew her like no other.

  “Raven, I know this is scary. For both of us. But I think we’d regret it if we didn’t find out for sure.”

  Raven stood and paced the living room. She couldn’t think with him touching her and staring at her with those eyes. She still didn’t understand how, after twelve years, they had gotten to this place.

  Bryson came and placed his hands on her shoulders. “You’re going to wear a hole in this carpet. And since you’re leasing the place, I don’t think you want to have to replace it,” he added with a smile. “Let me ask you something.”

  She stared up at him. He towered over her five-six height by a good nine inches. “What?”

  “Have I ever done anything to hurt you?”

  “No.”

  “And have I ever given you any reason to doubt my word?”

  “No.”

  “I won’t start now.” He placed a kiss on her forehead.

  “I believe you. I’m going to change, I’ll be right back.”

  He nodded and released her.

  She needed a moment to process this and make some decisions. Things were moving at warp speed and, although she had some lingering reservations, she trusted Bryson with her life.

  * * *

  Bryson watched her walk away and wanted to call her back, take her into his arms and assure her that everything would work out. He lowered himself back to the sofa. She’d always been strong and outspoken. He’d only seen glimpses of vulnerability during her breakups, but even then, they had been short-lived and she would be back to her tough-as-nails self in a day or two. But this time seemed to be different and he didn’t know how to make her see that he would never turn his back on her. Sure, he’d be disappointed if sometime down the road things didn’t work out. However, being friends first, he hoped they would be able to mutually agree to remain close. Bryson chuckled to himself. After all this time, it would be ironic if Raven turned out to be the one Kendrick talked about.

  He rose to his feet when Raven came back with two bottles of water. She had changed out of her slacks and polo emblazoned with the rehab center’s logo into an oversized tee and shorts, and her feet were bare. His gaze was riveted to her toned, long legs. Memories of them wrapped around his waist as he thrust into her surfaced in his mind, and he felt himself growing hard. He wanted a repeat of last night so badly it hurt, but Raven needed time to get used to them as a couple. She still appeared somewhat apprehensive, but the frightened look he’d seen in her eyes a few minutes ago had disappeared.

  Raven held out one bottle. “I figured you’d want one.” She sat in her same spot and tucked her feet under her.

  Smiling, he accepted it from her, twisted off the cap and took a long drink, hoping it would cool his raging libido. “You figured right.” His expression turned serious. “How’re you doing with this? I know you needed a few minutes.”

  She halted with the bottle halfway to her lips. “How did you know?”

  “Because I know you,” Bryson said, reclaiming his seat. “What can I do to make this easier for you?”

  “I don’t know that there’s anything you can do, but I’d trust you with my life, Bryson, so I’m willing to do as you suggested and take it one step at a time.”

  He read her message loud and clear—she trusted him not only with her life, but also her heart—and he vowed to do everything in his power to make sure she didn’t regret her decision.

  “Um…what do we tell Jerome and Kendrick?”

  “The truth. They sort of already know,” he said with a sheepish grin.

  Her eyes widened. “You told them?”

  “Only because I had to explain to Jerome why I didn’t call him yesterday to let him know how you were doing. We all were worried about you. Kendrick showed up at the center at the tail end of the conversation, so…”

  “And?” she p
rompted when he didn’t continue.

  “They lit into me because they thought I’d taken advantage of you, then threatened to kill me if I broke your heart.”

  Raven instinctively reached for his hand. “You’ve been friends with them longer. I don’t want this to come between you guys.”

  “This won’t affect our friendship, so don’t start worrying. Once they saw how serious I was about you, they calmed down. I guess they’re cool with it. We’ll find out on Friday when we go out to dinner. Speaking of dinner, you want to grab a bite?”

  She lifted a brow. “As long as I don’t have to change, fine.”

  Bryson laughed. “Now, that’s my girl.” He’d been wanting to kiss her from the moment he helped her out of the car and when she smiled at him, he couldn’t hold back any longer. He leaned forward and brushed his lips across hers. When she didn’t back away, he teased her bottom lip with his tongue and cupped the back of her head to bring her closer. Her lips parted and he slid his tongue into her mouth, reacquainting himself with her taste. Just like their first kiss, she didn’t waste anytime reciprocating. He could feel his control slipping and eased back.

  Raven moaned in protest.

  “We need to slow down. Otherwise, we’re going to end up back in your bed. We’re supposed to be taking our time.”

  “I know, but when you kiss me, I don’t want to stop.”

  Her confession made his heart leap. “Just so you’ll know, it’s the same with me.” Most men wouldn’t admit to something like that, but he wasn’t like most men and he didn’t want Raven to think for one moment that this was going to be a one-sided affair. “Get your shoes, so we can go. What do you have a taste for?”

  She uncurled her legs. “I want a cheeseburger and french fries.” She pointed a finger his way. “And don’t say anything. I missed dinner last night and didn’t have time to finish my lunch today, so I’m starving.”

  “I’m not saying anything.” Bryson chuckled as she sashayed out.

  They ended up at MVP Grill—where all of the entrées were named after sports figures—and decided to eat there.

  As soon as the server brought their food, Raven said a quick blessing and bit into her burger. She moaned.

  Bryson sucked in a sharp breath. He bowed his head and, along with his blessing, prayed he’d be able to go as slow as she needed.

  “How did your meeting go this morning? I hope you got the grant.”

  He grinned. “We did, but instead of the ten thousand listed, he cut us a check for fifty thousand.”

  Raven gasped. “Are you serious? That is fantastic! Congratulations, Bryse. You and Jerome deserve it.”

  “Thanks. We’re pretty excited because it gives us some breathing room.”

  “And you don’t have to dip into your savings like I know you did last year,” she said casually and popped a fry into her mouth.

  Bryson didn’t comment. He and Jerome received a decent salary from the board, but it was less than his previous job. Fortunately, he’d learned to save from an early age and had made investments that afforded him the ability to supplement the monies received for the center, if necessary.

  “What plans do you have for the money?”

  “So far, just hiring the teachers for the summer school program. Ken’s going to volunteer, too, which means we only need two. Tonya suggested adding a preschool at some point, but we’ll see.”

  “If you did, you wouldn’t have to worry about hiring someone to develop and run the program.”

  He finished chewing and took a sip of his lemonade. “True. But we’d still need teachers year-round.”

  “What about having one or two permanent teachers and hiring college students majoring in Early Childhood Education as assistants. It would be a cheaper alternative.”

  Bryson studied her. “I hadn’t thought about that.” And with their non-profit status, they’d be eligible for more grants. The tuition collected would go back into the program, minimizing the impact on monies directed elsewhere. He nodded. “I like it. I’ll talk to Rome about it tomorrow.” They ate in silence for a few minutes. “How was your day? You mentioned having to go in early. I thought Friday was your early day.”

  “It is, but one of my clients is going out of town this week and needed to reschedule, so I went in early to accommodate him. It ended up being crazy busy because one of the therapists called in sick. Instead of canceling her appointments, we doubled up.”

  “No wonder you didn’t get a chance to eat.” Her food was gone. “I guess you were hungry.”

  Raven smiled. “Yeah, and this hit the spot. I’m going to have to do an extra day of working out, though.”

  “Trust me, everything is tight, toned and in all the right places.”

  She angled her head. “You flirting with me is going to take some getting used to.” She stood. “Let’s go.”

  “Well, you’d better hurry up because I’m going to be doing more than flirting.” Bryson tossed her a bold wink and led her out to the car.

  Once they got back to her place, Raven immediately kicked off her shoes, as usual, and curled up in her favorite position on the sofa. “I have a question and you can answer or not.”

  “What is it?”

  “Why haven’t you gotten serious about some woman before? I mean, look at you.” She waved a hand in his direction. “You’re smart, good-looking and in the dictionary next to the definition of a ‘good Black man’ is your picture.”

  He chuckled. “Ah, okay. I wouldn’t go that far. Seriously? My picture in the dictionary. Hmm, that would be something.” He laughed again.

  She threw a pillow at him. “You know what I mean.”

  “I do. I guess I haven’t really been looking, especially after what happened with Delaney.”

  “That wasn’t your fault.”

  “I realize that. It took me a long time to understand she needed help. I just wished she’d confided in me.” He dated Delaney for close to two years and thought she’d be the one he would marry after they graduated. During their junior year, she changed her major from Justice Studies to Nursing, something her family hadn’t been happy about. What he didn’t know, initially, was that they’d pressured her and threatened to cut off their financial support if she didn’t follow through with what they wanted her to do. Her parents had both been attorneys and wanted her and her younger brother to join the family practice. Delaney started to withdraw and Bryson had tried to encourage her as much as he could, but she became depressed. In an effort to cheer her up, he planned a night out for them. When he arrived at her dorm room, he found her unconscious and barely alive with an empty bottle of sleep medication next to her. She died on the way to the hospital. Three days later, he received the letter she’d mailed, telling him she was sorry, but couldn’t take the pressure anymore. He’d been angry and devastated. After that, he dated, but never got close to another woman.

  “And now?”

  Bryson scooped her up and settled her across his lap. “Now there’s you and I can’t help but to be serious.”

  “Because of our friendship?”

  “No. Because of the way you make me feel.” He lowered his head and kissed her. He liked the way she fit in his arms, the way her mouth fit against his, as if it had been created especially for him. When the kiss ended, he shifted until he was lying on his back and cradled Raven in his arms. They lay together without speaking for a long while and Bryson couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so content. At length, he asked, “Do you have a long day tomorrow?”

  “Not really.” Raven laughed softly. “I have to deal with Chris and his antics, but other than that, it should go pretty smoothly.”

  “The football player who injured his back last season.”

  “The one and only. He keeps everybody cracking up.”

  “Is he the same one who came to the restaurant when you were out with Darren?”

  “Yep. He told Darren he was a lucky guy because I had the best hands in the bu
siness.”

  Bryson chuckled. “I guess that didn’t go over well. Can’t say I’d want to be told by some rich football player that my woman has the best hands,” he teased.

  She elbowed him.

  “I’m just sayin’.”

  “Are you going to be the same way?”

  “No, baby. I have no reason not to trust you.” He picked up one of her hands. “Besides, when word gets out about these hands, other athletes are going to be knocking on your door and, with your newfound celebrity status, you might be able to open your own clinic, if you want.”

  “Hmm…maybe sometime down the line. I see how hard you have to work and all the hours you put in, and I don’t know if I want to commit to all that. As it stands, I hate having to chart and write reports, so I know I wouldn’t want to have to do everything you do to run the center. Nah, I’ll just go to work and come home. I like my sleep.”

  Bryson laughed. “Girl, you are a mess. I hear you on the workload, but I gotta tell you, I love being my own boss. If you ever decide you want to do it, you know I’ll do everything to help you.”

  Without lifting her head from his chest, Raven reached up and patted his cheek. “Mmm hmm, baby, you go right ahead and be the boss.”

  He stilled. It was the first time she’d ever called him anything other than Bryson or Bryse. Her calling him baby went straight to his heart.

  She slowly lifted her head. “What?”

  “Nothing. I’m just enjoying being here with you.”

  “Me, too.”

  Smiling, he held her closer, thinking he could do this for a lifetime. Though the thought should have scared him as it usually did, this time he actually felt a measure of peace. And for a brief moment, he imagined what it would be like to come home to her everyday and lay just like this.

  Chapter Five

  By Friday, Raven was only slightly more comfortable with her new relationship. However, she couldn’t deny the growing feelings she had for Bryson. She’d dated Darren for four months and liked him reasonably well, but what she felt for Bryson surpassed those emotions tenfold and in a short time. He made it easy to fall for him, from not being threatened by her clients to suggesting she might want to open her own clinic someday and offering to help. So far, nothing about their easygoing relationship had changed and she wanted to believe that what they had would continue to grow. But she was a realist and if her track record was any indication, she didn’t hold out much hope.